How The New York Times Got Its Groove Back
Yesterday, The New York Times announced that it would be ending Times Select, its paid subscription services, and would refund money to those who had already paid. Today we take a look at the history of Times Select and the implications of the Times' decision.
Times Select launched in the fall of 2005 to great fanfare on the Times' webpage, thousands of inconvenienced readers, and absolutely brutal reviews. As a loyal reader of the Times' Op-Ed page (one of the biggest draws of Times Select), I can tell you that I was terribly disappointed the day I opened up NYTimes.com in my browser only to find that I couldn't bask in the eloquence of Thomas Friedman, Nicholas Kristof, or even Bob Herbert. More significantly, even the Times columnists themselves weren't happy with Times Select. Here's an old video of Friedman commenting on his feelings toward the subscription model:
RSS Readers: Click here for the video.
The New York Times has a phenomenal PageRank and still remains the newspaper of record in this country. Its journalists and columnists draw millions of eyes each morning and its articles are commented upon endlessly throughout the web. The termination of Times Select marks the end of another paid subscription model, this time by a media juggernaut. It also points to two emerging truths of the new Web: First of all, there is such an excess of content out there that it's extremely difficult to find people willing to pay for yours, even if you're The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal (which may soon make its content completely free under Rupert Murdoch). And second of all, the new model of targeted web advertising is a much more appealing method of monetization than that of paid subscribers. In the end, the company simply realized what others realized years ago: there were more benefits to be derived from getting more viewers, rather than forcing existing viewers to pay up.
Going free doesn't mean you don't have to make money. It just means that you have to find a model that's lucrative, while giving you the added benefit of getting your content to as many people as possible.
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Trackbacks (1)
- Stephen Glauser, September 18, 2007
“The end of paid content on the web?” — Ok, that may be a little drastic and premature, however, it could be (and hopefully is) a sign of things to come. As of midnight tonight, the New York Times is ending its Times Select program. While some people think...
Reader Comments (5)
- Alex Ramon, September 18, 2007
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Wow, this is great news! I gave up on the NYT years ago because of the protected articles and password hassles. It just didn't make any sense, especially when every other information medium is being provided for free. Now it's time for the Times to get with the times and use advertising to make up for the loss of subscriber funds.
- webprofessor, September 18, 2007
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Do you have any sources for the assertion that the WSJ might go to the free model? I've never heard anyone complaining about the WSJ being on the paid model.
- Dave Chen, September 18, 2007
- Amrit Hallan - Content Blog, September 18, 2007
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I think it is a good decision both for the newspaper and its readers because the NYT will be able to generate far more revenue now, and the readers will be able to access content hitherto inaccessible.
It makes me wonder though that will content publishers never be able to charge for the content? The key would be the uniqueness coupled with the demand for it. News and opinion always have alternative sources and with the advent of blogs you get better opinion than even seasoned columnists in the mainstream media.
- webprofessor, September 19, 2007
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And on cue the WSJ publishes more about it probably going free today.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119015797997631717.html?mod=hpsuseditors_picks
